SAN JOSE – The Sharks say they feel good about the defensemen they’ve taken in the NHL Draft in recent years, a crop that includes Ryan Merkley, Artemi Kniazev, and Santeri Hatakka.
The same goes for the forwards they’ve selected of late, with Thomas Bordeleau and Ozzy Wiesblatt being among their top prospects.
None of those selections will have as much upside as the player the Sharks will take with the seventh overall pick in the first round of this year’s NHL Draft, which begins Friday.
“One player is not going to change the fortunes of your team in one fell swoop,” said TSN hockey analyst Craig Button, “but they become instrumental in moving forward to make sure you’re not in this spot on an ongoing basis.”
After their worst season in terms of points-percentage in nearly a quarter-century, the Sharks have the opportunity to draft a cornerstone-type player with their first-round pick. The only question is whether they go with a forward, defenseman, or goalie.
The Sharks, for now, also own a third-round pick, two fourth and fifth-round picks and a sixth and seventh-rounder.
“Doug Wilson’s been doing this a long time and he’s made a lot of great picks,” said NHL Network analyst, and original Shark, Brian Lawton. “But this one may be more important than ever.”
The Sharks haven’t drafted as high as seventh overall since 2003 when they had the No. 6 pick and chose forward Milan Michalek out of the Czech Republic. But this is only the fourth time in the last 20 years San Jose has had a pick in the top 10, with the others being in 2005 (Devin Setoguchi, eighth overall), 2007 (Logan Couture, ninth) and Timo Meier (2015, ninth).
All of those players needed at least two years after they were drafted before they were ready to play in the NHL full time. That could be the case with whoever the Sharks pick at No. 7 overall.
“Usually when we’re picking so low, you’re hoping that someone falls to you, as opposed to being in the situation where we are this time where we actually get to choose the player that fits,” said Doug Wilson Jr., the Sharks’ director of scouting. “So I wouldn’t say that we’re looking specifically for a player that can help us sooner than later, we’re just looking for the best player available.”
A defenseman might make sense for the Sharks at No. 7 considering they drafted nine forwards last season, including Wiesblatt in the first round and Bordeleau in the second.
The 7th ranked North American skater for the #NHLDraft, Brandt Clarke of the @OHLBarrieColts, compares his game to that of John Klingberg.#MeetTheFuture | @KubotaCanadaLtd pic.twitter.com/HNHEw4BaGB
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) July 22, 2021
Merkley, who will turn 21 on Aug. 14, had a so-so year in his first full season of professional hockey with 11 points in 31 games. Hatakka, a defensive defenseman, just finished a solid year with Ilves of SM-liiga in Finland and Kniazev played well for Russia at the World Junior Championships this past winter. Both players, now 20, were taken in 2019.
But it’s difficult to project when any of those defensemen might be ready for the NHL, if ever. By getting a blueliner at No. 7, such as Simon Edvinsson, Luke Hughes or Brandt Clarke, the Sharks will be getting a player who is more of a sure thing.
Button said the potential that Merkley, Hatakka and Kniazev possess, “I don’t think it’s anywhere near that of Brandt Clarke, Luke Hughes or Simon Edvinsson. So I think it’s a real opportunity to build that area of your prospect pool.”
The top defenseman available in the draft is Michigan’s Owen Power, who is expected to go first overall to the Buffalo Sabres. After that, the next-best crop of defensemen could go anywhere between second and 10th.
Among the likeliest possibilities for the Sharks are Hughes and Clarke.
Hughes is Michigan commit and the younger brother of Quinn and Jack Hughes, who were first-round selections by Vancouver and New Jersey, respectively, in 2018 and 2019. At 6-foot-2, Luke Hughes is bigger than his brothers but skates just as well.
Clarke played most of last season in Slovakia after the OHL could not start up again due to COVID-19 restrictions in Ontario, Canada. Also at 6-2, Clarke’s strengths are his hockey sense and playmaking, although he’s not as smooth a skater as Hughes.
Lawton sees Hughes, who turns 18 on Sept. 9. as a fit for the Sharks at No. 7.
“He’s one of the youngest players in the draft and has a lot of potential ahead of him,” Lawton said.
“I don’t think we lean any way,” Wilson Jr. when asked about taking a defenseman after last year’s draft. “I think we have a strict filter that we go for, and we just stick to that.”
The Sharks have not drafted a goalie since they took Zachary Emond in the sixth round in 2018. Sweden’s Jesper Wallstedt is thought to franchise goalie-type potential and is projected to go somewhere in the top half of the first round, potentially as high as the top five.
Could the Sharks go in that direction? Right now, it seems unlikely, as Sharks assistant GM Tim Burke said this week that addressing the position through the draft is “not a priority.”
That leaves the collection of forwards available, and there are some dandies to be had.
Michigan center Matty Beniers will likely be gone by No. 7, but his teammate, Kent Johnson – maybe the flashiest forward in the draft – should be there.
Other forwards projected to go in the top 10 include wingers Dylan Guenther and William Eklund and centers Mason McTavish and Chaz Lucius.
Whoever the Sharks pick will automatically become the team’s top prospect.
“There are going to be significant players available at the No. 7 pick for the San Jose Sharks,” Button said. “They’re going to have a choice at goaltender, they are going to have a choice of defensemen, and they’re going to have a choice of forwards.”
“I don’t think it’s a crapshoot,” Wilson Jr. said. “I think there’s just some really good players in our range, and we’re just trying to sort out what order they’re going to go, so we have our options.”
